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Results for:

  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Brian Hartz |
  • July 7, 2022
Crowning achievement: Royal Pets levels up as it takes on big rivals

With a new flagship store in a prime location in Tampa, the pet market, hotel and veterinary clinic isn’t flying under the radar anymore.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • July 6, 2007
Stay Fresh, Reinvent

Taking a cue from pop-diva Madonna, star jewelry designer Erika Pena constantly reinvents her merchandise. Erika and her sister, Bielka, have big ambitions for their young firm.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • September 15, 2006
Wake-Up Call

As Kathleen Shanahan transforms an environmental remediation company into a market leader, the CEO is on the hunt for acquisitions - backed by one of the nation's largest equity firms.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 10, 2006
The Golden Ticket

The son of an Italian immigrant turned lottery winnings into a variety of businesses, from large-scale real estate projects in three Gulf Coast counties to cable advertising.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • December 8, 2006
Detour Direct

An aspiring star chef took a colossal risk 20 years ago when he took over a tiny Asian-style furniture business. The payoff has been as big as the risk, both in multimillion-dollar revenues and in the introduction to his business partner and future wife.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • December 22, 2006
Coffee Talk

Florida foreclosure numbers show big gainDon Ackerman will step down as chairman of WCI Communities at the company's next annual meeting, a sure sign that significant changes are in store for the struggling Bonita Springs-based homebuilder. Going into December, shares of PGT, the Venice-based impact-resistant window and door manufacturer, had been hovering in the $11-per-share range, and what's more, overall, the stock had decreased 15% since its June IPO and 33% since its all-time high of $18.84 Aug. 3.That was until SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Keith Hughes upgraded his rating on the stock to buy from neutral.Coffee Talk is always a little weary when it hears about new products that come with a "change the entire dynamic" tag, be it small business banking or the latest stock craze. A little dose of skepticism can go a long way.But we perked up after talking to a few bankers about remote deposit capture, a federally approved system that equates digital check images with paper checks. It allows banks to provide a way for clients to scan paper checks and deposit them electronically. Coffee Talk usually takes the color-blind approach to judging businesses - or more to the point, if there's any color to be judged, the one with the most cache would be green. Hence, lists breaking down entrepreneurs by racial or gender categories are usually little more than window dressing.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • February 9, 2007
Lower taxes, higher density, less government!

One influential legislator predicts a steep fall in state revenue as the slump in Florida's housing markets continues. An increase in density will help revenue and affordable housing.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • March 9, 2007
Preparing for the big rebound - in '08

New head of the Bonita Bay Group, Kitty Green, is not expecting much strength in real estate this year, but is planning for a bounce in 2008, and expects a return to vigorous levels in 2009.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • March 16, 2007
'We're onto something Big'

EpicTide is at the forefront of a national push to protect patient medical records from thieves. Health care fraud cost an estimated $80 billion to $120 billion annually.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • May 4, 2007
A Tale of Two Floridas

Northeast Florida and Southwest Florida might as well be at opposite poles, one developer says.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • June 19, 2006
Carolina Land Rush

Fort Myers luxury homebuilder Bill Ennen traveled to North Carolina to build a summer home and ended up buying half a mountain. His timing was right on as Florida builders and developers rush to the Carolinas in search of the next housing boom.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • August 4, 2006
Matt Walsh: Save Our Homes should be repealed

Sometime in the next two weeks, a Gov. Bush-appointed committee will begin meeting to figure out what, if anything, should be done to change Florida's infamously discriminatory Save Our Homes amendment - the amendment that is driving property taxes beyond tolerance for so many of Florida's part-time property owners and the amendment that, a decade after its adoption, has become a spreading cancer across Florida's economy.The conclusion and recommendations should be clear: It should be repealed.

  • Opinion
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • August 25, 2006
It Takes a Team

A $3,000 loan sparked the idea for a company that generated more than $10 million in sales in its fourth year. Turns out, there's a hot market for used computer hardware that costs a fraction of its original retail price.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • September 19, 2005
Anything is Possible

In spite of Chris-Craft's two bankruptcies, Stephen Julius and Stephen Heese saw great valuein the name and its history. They've surpassed $50 million in sales; $100 million is the next goal.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • February 3, 2006
How Bankruptcy Saved the Tidemark

Out of money, Nick Easterling and his partners saw one way to save the Tidemark Lodge and Marina: bankruptcy.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • February 24, 2006
Low-Ender

Warren Hickernell is profiting while working against the tide. 'I really see my job as preservng the low-impact mom-and-pop hotels.'

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • May 7, 2006
Family Reunion

When Joe D'Jamoos sought leaders for his thriving development business, he turned to familiar faces: His family. So far, the family plan is working.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • October 14, 2005
Westwater Transformed

Mark Miller looks to the new waterfront - out east. He continues building companies, too.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • November 14, 2005
BUILD IT; They Will Come

McGarvey Development of Bonita Springs plans to build 2 million square feet of speculative commercial space in the next five years.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • June 6, 2005
Renaissance Restaurateur

Paul Mattison is a culinary renaissance man - right down to the obligatory Italian connection.

  • Entrepreneurs
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